The process of becoming a State Authorized Public Accountant is tough, but the three written exams are particularly difficult to pass. To Lica Lyngsø Nielsen, it meant failing an exam for the first time in her life, but that only boosted her motivation.
Lica Lyngsø Nielsen is 32 years old and lives in Vordingborg. In 2015, she joined Deloitte from another audit firm. She is now a Senior Manager specialised in the financial sector. To her, developing her skills have always been motivating, and the SR Academy (State Authorized Public Accountant Academy) was a natural progression:
“One of the greatest things about working with audit is that it is a profession in constant motion. There are always new areas to learn and new complexities to tackle. I like this kind of constant learning. I see it as a journey, not a destination.”
Before joining the SR Academy, Lica knew about the professional requirements and the high expectations. However, she was surprised by the level of personal development and the ability needed to handle pressure:
“Taking on professional challenges has never been a problem for me. Instead, I have had to learn to withstand the personal pressure. How do I prepare? How do I maintain focus? How do I make sure that I can perform when I need to? It’s all part of the learning experience of the SR Academy, and I wouldn’t be without it. I eventually learned to fight my fears to a point where I feel much more in control and much more present even in situations with intense pressure.”
The ability to handle pressure and to perform in front of clients is also part of Lica’s everyday job, she explains:
“When you work with clients in the financial services industry, you typically meet people that are very competent and very professional in everything they do. It’s also an industry with complex challenges and complicated legislation. In this sense, you must constantly strive to meet or even exceed expectations. To me, that’s a huge motivational factor, and I love what I do.”
Besides working on the progression of her career, Lica is also happy to see how the audit profession is constantly progressing towards high-value assignments and data-driven processes:
“The old world of random checks by the auditor is now being replaced by a data-driven, risk-based approach, which focuses on estimates and complex issues. I love this development, and I think we have so much value to add. As auditors, our roles are in constant development following digitisation, quality requirements and new regulations, which creates assignments that are more interesting than ever before. I’m excited to see where all of this take us, and I know that I’m up for the challenge.”
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